off, rather than taking it in and trying to alter it. The question for the future is whether
this baseline of interaction is alterable, even in the face of lack of energy. Via direct
lived experience, I have found that energy is the most powerful intervening variable, is
mediated by one’s impairments, and then interacts with the environment, history, social
expectations, and fellow participant/s. The state of our social world gleaned from this
project is that the source possessing the most energy is rarely the one to expend much at
all. In multiple, concrete situations (to be elaborated extensively), I have had success in
concert with people working with me—at the same level, neither above or below one
another—in transforming initially foreign modes and avenues of communication (even
those mediated electronically) into ones that become “natural” and just another effective
and efficient way of doing things. It is possible, and the pitfalls never fall on a single end
however there is a societal shift in thinking that seems to be propelling the increasing
frequency with which this social phenomenon is occurring. I perceive it through my
experiences every day. I document it on a number of scraps of paper on pocket
notebooks, while at the same time prodding it along through my participation in life. The
extremes of frustration when potentials fail to be actualized, as well as the exhilaration
when everything clicks and everyone involved experiences the sensation of being part of
it—when the gap is closed. I still do not know what to call it, but I know it should be part
of the development of sociology to ensure that there is that exchange between academic
and public arenas (again, something to be developed extensively).
When the call for papers first came out, I immediately noted the space for a
contribution from me. My health condition deteriorated in the interim and I had a full
plate just surviving. But as the deadline has approached, and there has been a bit of a lift
Convention